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Healthy Living, Less Judgment

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  • Home
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  • Categories
    • Healthy Living
    • Mommy Greenest Approved
    • Eco Beauty & Fashion
    • Natural Parenting
    • Latest Buzz
    • Green News & Events
  • Mommy Greenest Guides
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  • close up of woman's hands spraying something from a translucent brown bottle onto her wrist
    Eco Beauty & Fashion

    DIY Natural Bug Repellant Perfume

    July 28, 2014 /

    Tis the season for bugs. And although I happen to love the scent of citronella, others—I’m not naming names, but we could be married—hate it. So I whipped up a new recipe for DIY natural bug repellant perfume that employs three of my favorite scents, with no citronella in sight. Want to try? I’ll show you how!

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    Rachel Sarnoff 9 Comments

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  • Citronella has become my summer night perfume. But to my surprise, the chemical repellent DEET may actually be the safest choice for me and my family.
    Healthy Living

    Bug Bites Season: Get the Deets on DEET

    August 1, 2013 /

    It’s bug bites season. And that means that I can sit at a table full of people and be the only one walking away with bug bites. According to the Smithsonian, it might have something to do with my blood type, which—for the record—is O. Regardless, I’m not taking chances with bug bites this summer. Because of my work with the Environmental Working Group, I was lucky enough to read early versions of their brand new Bug Repellent Report, which represents 18 months of research.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 16 Comments

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Welcome! I created this blog in 2008 as a resource for healthier living with less judgment. I'm a mother of three, former journalist, and co-founder of the (shuttered, sniff) sustainable beauty and fashion site EcoStiletto. I was Executive Director of the nonprofits The 5 Gyres Institute and Healthy Child Healthy World, appeared on the "TODAY Show" and "CNN," among others, and shared two TEDx talks: Trash is Ruining Recycling and Can One Straw Change The World? Now, I work as a marketing and communications director at an environmental nonprofit while slow-boating an MFA in fiction and writing about a less dystopian, more hopeful world. Recent publications, talks, and more are here. Let's keep in touch! xoRachel

https://youtu.be/sOol1MIgois

rachellincolnsarnoff

It’s a fact: 94% of plastic ends up in landfills It’s a fact: 94% of plastic ends up in landfills or the environment, including 500 million shampoo bottles each year. What’s a solution? Shampoo bars! I’m loving these from @gobrixy: The shampoo lathers up great and rinses clean, the conditioner leaves my long hair easy-to-comb but residue free, the body wash is damn good soap — and I can’t wait to try the face wash line, dropping soon! These vegan bars are never tested on animals; plus, they’re palm-oil free (and rainforest-friendly) and the essential-oil powered scents like coconut vanilla and mint eucalyptus smell AMAZING. With zero red-flag ingredients like sulphates, phthalates, parabens, or synthetic fragrance/color in the mix, they’re 100% color-safe. (I’m especially excited about the forthcoming purple combo, perfect to get the brass out of blond.) To get the best suds from a shampoo bar, stand under the water to lather up. Each conditioner or shampoo bar lasts about as long as two bottles — and at $14, that’s a serious bargain. Oh, and Brixy bars are minimally packaged in FSC-certified paper, which is both recyclable and compostable. Plus, they’re TSA-friendly and great for travel! Thanks to Brixy, which shared the inside scoop (full disclosure, one of the co-founders is part of my extended family) and gave me bars to try. So… tell me in comments: Have you tried a shampoo and/or conditioner bar — and what did you think? #Sustainability #sustainable #shampoobar #ZeroWaste #hair #haircare #naturalbeauty #EPR #Motivation #MommyGreenest
Superfan! Also realized once inside that this is t Superfan! Also realized once inside that this is the former Glam Slam how cool is that? #princess #prince #nothingcompares2u
Nothing beats a backyard rager! Thanks to @sarahke Nothing beats a backyard rager! Thanks to @sarahkellyvista for hosting #VerandaFest2023 and @dtkcomposer for letting @yesqueenpalm play (and Liz Silva for indulging my crappy guitar playing and @gabesarnoff for generously sitting in with his mom) and @studyhall80s for THE BEST SET EVER and @adriennesalick for instigating the gogo. What a fun night!!!!!! #party #houseparty
If I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates, w If I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates, who needs a key? Try hot pink with blue and yellow racing stripes and rainbows criss-crossing up your ankles as a time travel device. Back in the day, my wheels sparkled like Bonne Bell Lip Smackers Bubble Gum gloss and I had a fat wad of Barbie-pink Big Chew contraband to match. I shuddered along faint fault lines magnified into crevices by four rounds of plastic that registered the tectonic palm slap of continents with each revolution. Hurtled down the sidewalk, my braids catching the breeze, bangs adhered with sweat, lips stretched wide up and over and around the metal wires winched onto my teeth, and not even braces could contain my smile. Now, it’s just like riding a bike. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #FlashFiction #RollerSkates #Secondhand #Preloved #Thrift #SecondhandSeptember
If you’re in LA, please go see this play. It’s If you’re in LA, please go see this play. It’s a story and a communal experience and a reminder of practicing gratitude all rolled into one amazing immersive experience phenomenally acted by @danielkisaac and beautifully designed @geffenplayhouse. We went on a whim and knew nothing about the production and that was perfect so I won’t ruin it for you. Just go. #everybrilliantthing #theater #livetheatre #immersivetheatre #geffenplayhouse
If you need some water or a poop bag, Lula’s got If you need some water or a poop bag, Lula’s got you. #dogsofinstagram #dog #doglife #hiking #hike #ilovela
From the time I had a fake ID (obtained through a From the time I had a fake ID (obtained through a coin-operated vending machine in Times Square when I was 16 and yes it worked) I’ve been going to shows. Even in the cheapest seats, experiencing live music is an amazing communal experience, both with the performers and with everyone else in the space. And one of the greatest things about living in Los Angeles is that EVERY band rolls through (although usually on a Tuesday). Lucky for us, @noconamusic actually lives here, too. If you like #Americana and #Country and #Punk and/or were as obsessed as I was with the alchemy of #JohnDoe + #ExeneCervenka in X back in the day, go see #Nocona this month in LA or Nashville. See you there! #Music #LiveMusic #LosAngeles #Angeleno #Singer #Songwriter #Songs #Motivation
Inspired by this message from Patagonia and this r Inspired by this message from Patagonia and this random sign from the universe. Did you read it right? #Sustainability #Climate #ClimateJustice #Renewables #RenewableEnergy #KeepItInTheGround #CleanEnergy #Motivation #MommyGreenest
Who’s used a take-back bag from @for___days? I o Who’s used a take-back bag from @for___days? I only buy #preloved and have good options for #resale and donation, but need a place to send my skivvies. Has anyone done this and what did you think? #Sustainability #Fashion #SwapDontShop #SlowFashion #FashionRevolution #Preloved #Thrift #Recommerce #Style #Motivation #MommyGreenest
My two TEDx talks were all about individual action My two TEDx talks were all about individual action in the context of systemic change — and that takes major political shifts. We need EVERYONE who is worried about plastic pollution to contact your senator and representative with one simple ask: Cosponsor the Break Free From Plastic Act. How do that? One form. 10 seconds. That’s it. Let’s do this! (Link in bio) #Sustainability #Plastic #Microplastic #CircularEconomy #ZeroWaste #Reuse #Recycling #EPR #Motivation #MommyGreenest
What do these keys have to do with love? Inspired What do these keys have to do with love? Inspired by @thegoodtrade call for essays on “joy, bliss, lightheartedness, and wonder,” I wrote the story of how my husband and I got engaged within ten days of meeting each other. Fun fact? He hadn’t read this before it published. And, as he reminded me, I was actually blond at the time. Whoops. Link in bio! #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmQuerying #Fiction #WomensFiction #UpmarketFiction #CommercialFiction
Years ago, I worked with Patagonia — among other Years ago, I worked with Patagonia — among other stakeholders — on legislation that would mandate washing machines include microfiber filters (just like dryers do). Looks like Samsung now leads on the technological solutions side with a new after-market filter that captures 98% of fibers and will soon be introduced in the EU. While we wait for implementation in the U.S., please remember that washing synthetics by hand or in cold/gentle significantly reduces shedding and gets clothes just as clean. Typically, I choose natural fibers, but I couldn’t resist this pretty blouse at the thrift store yesterday — today my tub does double duty as a drying rack. #Sustainability #Fashion #SlowFashion #FashionRevolution #Recommerce #Style #Motivation #Sustainability #Plastic #Microplastics #CircularEconomy #ZeroWaste #Reuse #Recycling #EPR #Motivation #MommyGreenest
In my favorite place, with one of my two favorite In my favorite place, with one of my two favorite girls. She flies the nest tomorrow and I couldn’t be happier for her, but there will be a giant hole in our lives when she’s gone. #mother #daughter #family #hiking #losangeles #ilovela
I wish I had read #Kaleidoscope before I heard @he I wish I had read #Kaleidoscope before I heard @hellocecilywong’s inspirational craft talk at the @pacificmfa residency earlier this year. Wong shared that her life as a reader turned her into a writer, compelled by the “infinite acrobatics of words” to explore how the “same sentence can be arranged in a million different ways to different effects.” But listening to her then, I didn’t know about the resulting mastery of language that is so very apparent in this book. Kaleidoscope examines self and family and sisterhood and love and slaps it all against incredibly rendered, effortlessly exotic backdrops: the island of Goa, the city of Udaipur, plus temples and raves and one seriously bad acid trip of a train ride. The story begins in New York, but after shifting into travel mode in the second half the descriptions speed up and compress, which seems to be a deliberate, stylistic commentary on the grieving narrator’s experience of time as elastic: “a rubber band…an hour stretched to the ribs before time snaps back.” This is Wong’s second book — I’m now dying to read #Diamondhead — and in the talk she shared that both began with “real people that I scramble to make unrecognizable” in order to create characters that are capable of surprising her as a writer. But how much of Kaleidoscope comes from her own experiences — how far and long did she travel in order to collect them? The only hint comes in the acknowledgment to her parents, “for their patience and encouragement as I roamed far from home.” Had I known all of this then, I would have raised my hand and asked — although she probably wouldn’t have told me, anyway. In the talk she said that, “Perspective is gained through lived experience…The truth lies in the fluid nature of these experiences – memory shifts endlessly…fiction shows the ever shifting nature of life…and everything will likely take on a different meaning by the end.” Yes, this. #AmReading #Book #Bookish #BookClub #BookClubSelection #BookClubReads #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmQuerying #Fiction #WomensFiction #UpmarketFiction #CommercialFiction #Sustainability #ClimateFiction
Three decades of friendship and it never gets old. Three decades of friendship and it never gets old. Spent the weekend at this beautiful lake but honestly we could be anywhere and have a blast. (Although the @foxhaven_lakearrowhead cabin is pretty extraordinary!) We laughed and cried and celebrated a birthday and it was (as always) the best weekend ever. #bestfriends #rideordie #lakearrowhead
It’s a really nice ceiling but I hope I get to s It’s a really nice ceiling but I hope I get to see more of Arrowhead than this. #arrowhead #arrowheadlake #lakearrowhead #backpain
Am I the only one who loved Barbie until the end f Am I the only one who loved Barbie until the end felt like a cheap joke? Trying not to spoil it for anyone who has been under a rock for the past few weeks, but I feel like Barbie’s new life could have involved a job interview or college. Anything but that final gag that reduces her to a pretty face and a new vagina — immediately transforming the world into another plastic box where she is disempowered. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed/cried/craughed and it was BRILLIANT and I agree with all the accolades. It’s just the end that made me mad. Thoughts? #barbie #barbiemovie #barbiegram
How are the last days of summer here already? Whe How are the last days of summer here already? Where did the season go? Anyone else feeling just flattened by time rn? #summer #summervibes #beach #beachlife #socal #losangeles #angeleno
Only in the UK are these the options on a drop dow Only in the UK are these the options on a drop down. Last photo dump, I promise! #london #travel
I had forgotten how much I love this city! Everyth I had forgotten how much I love this city! Everything walkable, navigable, friendly. Effortlessly blending the old and the new. Every corner turned yields something beautiful to discover. My @lockehotels is like an awesome work + home stay, with a yoga mat and kitchenette in every room, and you already know how I feel about #refill and @whogivesacraptp toilet paper (is the best, ask me how #notsponsored). If only the cafe was #zerowaste hmmm… at least I brought my own cup! Today’s conversations were beyond inspirational. So far, it’s a week of work that feels like play. #london #londonlife
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